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Find out moreWe have collated what we think are some of the best Super-Readable titles all of which are also dyslexia friendly for teens. They are all specifically written to help readers who have visual stress and for dyslexic readers to enjoy.
Interest Age Teen Reading Age 8 | Mary Hooper tells a thrilling tale of secrets, deception and escapes set in Victorian England, a period she writes about with passion and precision. Life for poor young women in the century was extremely limited. Georgina is employed as housemaid to a wealthy family, but finds it as hard as life in the orphanage she recently left. A bright young woman, she runs away disguised as a boy, actions that open up new opportunities. Employed by a clothes seller who has his own secrets, much darker than hers, it’s not long before she must escape again, this time in the company of another clever young woman. Tautly plotted, this gothic tale with its determined young heroines will fascinate teenage girls from the first page to the last. Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant and dyslexic readers aged 12+
Interest Age Teen Reading Age 8 Sita Brahmachari writes about family lives and family relationships with real sensitivity and insight. Hudson, the teen narrator of her new novel, is well aware of his own tendency to misunderstand or misread what others are saying, so the moment when he and his dad suddenly connect with one another is particularly powerful. That it takes place in a car wash only makes it more convincing. Hudson’s dad explains how much he loved going through the car wash with his own father as a child, and how the cloud of soapy bubbles felt like a kind of heaven. Though there’s lots going on in Hudson’s life, and indeed head, his story is, as publisher Barrington Stoke says, super readable, with design and writing as clear as can be. ~ Andrea Reece Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant and dyslexic readers aged 12+ Barrington Stoke is the foremost publisher of dyslexia friendly books and those for reluctant readers. Here on Lovereading4kids we are constantly selecting new titles and refreshing our special dyslexia friendly category. Click here to view our current selection which is broken down by age range.
June 2016 Book of the Month | Interest Age Teen, Reading Age 8 In a Nutshell: mysteries – urban jungle - escape With typical intensity, Kevin Brooks presents readers with a slice of the life of a singular young man. Cole and his brother Ruben live in East London, as much a part of the landscape as the sooty railway bridges and flat grey sky. A chance encounter in the Live and Let Live pub with a girl who resembles their dead sister, and a monkey, a sudden act of violence, and the four of them are in a car and heading to Scotland. At times chilling, with a palpable sense of foreboding, the book ends on a note of pure joy. Despite its short extent, there’s a real depth to the story and while Brooks deliberately leaves questions about characters unanswered, readers will understand them completely at the book’s close. ~ Andrea Reece Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant and dyslexic readers aged 12+ Barrington Stoke is the foremost publisher of dyslexia friendly books and those for reluctant readers. Here on Lovereading4kids we are constantly selecting new titles and refreshing our special dyslexia friendly category. Click here to view our current selection which is broken down by age range.
Interest Age Teen Reading Age 8 | From acclaimed author Eve Ainsworth comes this new novella that packs a powerful punch in its openhearted, honest account of a teen girl trying her hardest to cope with her mum’s alcoholism. Violet has always seen her mum as being “strong, funny and in control”, as a “pretty, glamorous and confident” person who firmly believes, “You have to give a good impression at all times.” In contrast, Violet is “the quiet one …I’m the worrier who can never be confident.” But since her mum’s boyfriend left, Mum’s “it’s just one glass” of wine is starting to have an affect on their family life, with Violet increasingly having to pick-up caring for her little brother when Mum’s too hung-over to get out of bed. As Violet finds more empty bottles around the house, and finds herself having to lie to cover her mum, matters come to a scary head and she knows she has to be brave and seek help. Truly brilliant at capturing Violet’s conflicted feelings – an excruciating pull between love and anger – this compelling, moving story will engross fans of true-to-life fiction, while casting sensitive light on a tough subject. And, since this is published by the ever-brilliant Barrington Stoke, this book is especially suitable for struggling, reluctant or dyslexic readers, with its expert attention to vocabulary, layout, font and paper.
One of our 2018 Books of the Year | Interest Age YA Reading Age 8 | Alex Wheatle serves up an invigorating slice of teen life starring three kids growing up on his fictional Crongton estate. Briggy and Terror have been best friends for years but Terror’s romance with the gorgeous, super-cool Caldonia threatens to push them apart. So when Terror comes up with a ‘cadazy’ plan to rob the Crongton post office, for the sake of their friendship Briggy has no choice but to go along with it. As the boys plan their heist, normal life goes on, with tension at home making Briggy’s get-rich-quick dreams even more powerful. Sharp, funny, moving and written in rat-a-tat sentences that turn teen speak into a kind of poetry. Brilliant.
Interest Age Teen Reading Age 8 | In a nutshell: thought-provoking examination of an important social issue | Robert Swindells is a skilful storyteller and expert at writing about issues that matter to young people. 14 year old Sam is sure he’s a marked man and that sometime soon the local gang will get him. He wants a knife to protect him and when he finally gets his hands on one it makes him feel 10 feet tall. But how long can the knife keep him safe? A candid conversation with the real owner of the weapon makes Sam see things differently. Taut and tightly plotted this short novel provides readers with lots to think about. ~ Andrea Reece Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant and dyslexic readers aged 12+ Barrington Stoke is the foremost publisher of dyslexia friendly books and those for reluctant readers. Here on Lovereading4kids we are constantly selecting new titles and refreshing our special dyslexia friendly category. Click here to view our current selection which is broken down by age range.
Winner of the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2020 | Longlisted for the UKLA Book Awards 2020 | February 2019 Book of the Month | A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month July 2020 | Interest Age Teen Reading Age 9 | Cleverly set within a gripping adventure, Lark is a deeply touching story of the special bond between brothers. Older brother Nicky narrates the story of the day he and his younger brother Kenny set out on a simple day out on the moors. Proposed by their father as a way of filling time while they wait nervously for their mum to return from her new life in Canada, it is meant to a fun day out tinged with a bit of nostalgia as they are retracing a walk that he used to enjoy. But the simple walk which begins in a light hearted way soon becomes a deadly dangerous adventure as the weather conditions close in, the boys get completely lost and Kenny has to show exceptional courage and intelligence to make sure he can get Kenny home safely. Anthony McGowan maintains the intensity of the story throughout while also keeping the writing simple.
Interest Age Teen Reading Age 7 - In a Nutshell: love and laughs This witty comedy of modern manners will have young people snorting with laughter and quite possibly squirming with embarrassed recognition too. Poor Joe just can’t seem to get a girlfriend; they don’t like his cheesy chat-up lines – memorised from a website – and even his female best friend wants to stay just friends. A new online school dating site offers hope however and his sister and her super-cool boyfriend have all sorts of advice for Joe on ways to make himself more eligible. In the end though, it’s the old-fashioned approach that works. 21st century problems examined in an easy to read and revealing short novel! ~ Andrea Reece Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant and dyslexic readers aged 12+ Barrington Stoke is the foremost publisher of dyslexia friendly books and those for reluctant readers. Here on Lovereading4kids we are constantly selecting new titles and refreshing our special dyslexia friendly category. Click here to view our current selection which is broken down by age range.
Steinbeck’s classic is a regular examination set text and no wonder: the tragic story of George and Lennie struggling to get by in the California of the Great Depression, it’s a masterpiece, a tale of hope and almost unbearable loss mediated by clear, honest and sympathetic writing. Congratulations therefore to Barrington Stoke for this new edition which is specifically designed to be accessible to all readers, including those with dyslexia. The text is exactly as Steinbeck wrote it and hasn’t been abridged or altered, but features such as the font (a typeface designed to be easy to read), a larger point size and cream pages to help relieve the effects of visual stress, make this special edition of his great novel ‘super readable’ for all. ~ Andrea Reece Anthony McGowan, Guest Editor June 2015 chose Of Mice and Men as one of his favourite short novels...."I can almost hear the groans now, from millions of teenagers forced to read this for their GCSE! However, despite being ‘institutionalised’ Of Mice and Men remains an incredibly powerful and heartrending story. It centres on the friendship of George (small but clever) and Lenny (strong, but simple-minded), and their struggles in the rural California of the Great Depression. It’s end is tragic, but what persists is the memory of the love between the friends. It’s something I shamelessly ripped off for my brothers, Nicky and Kenny, in Pike and Brock." Mairi Kidd, MD of Barrington Stoke, says : “We are delighted to work with Penguin Random House and the Steinbeck Estate and their agents in arranging to license this important text for publication in a format that will bring it within the reach of many more readers.”
Longlisted for the UKLA Book Awards 2020 | Interest Age Teen Reading Age 8+ | Maggie’s story is charged with emotional energy from the opening lines, when her involving narration reveals a deep, deep bond with her Pa, whom she lost at the tender age of eight. He was a man of few words whose “every last syllable was worth hearing”. “Their souls were cut from the same cloth”, whereas her city-born Ma and her siblings are truly out of place living in the wilderness. Pa’s death leaves Maggie “in a place of bewildering horror”, and the family in a desperate struggle for survival, and so Maggie does what Pa would have done. She takes his gun to hunt for food to keep her family alive. But in place of praising and thanking her super-shot daughter, Maggie’s cold-hearted, convention-heeding Ma sends her to the County Infirmary for displaying “unnatural”, “unladylike” behaviour. While the rest of her childhood is marred by terrible abuse, Pa’s pervasive presence and Maggie’s indomitable inner strength see her stick to her guns, a tenacity that brings unimaginably spectacular change. Propelled by heart-pounding, high-stakes action, this is a richly rewarding, sparky story for young adults with a reading age of 9+.
Longlisted for the UKLA 2018 Book Award | Interest Age Teen Reading Age 8 | A story of a daring escape made by two slaves, a young woman and her husband, provides the inspiration for Tanya Landman’s story. Rosa and Benjamin meet, fall in love and marry but because they are slaves, their lives are not their own. When Rosa discovers she is pregnant – and confesses to her husband that the child might be her master’s – they decide to run. Rosa is so fair skinned that even Benjamin mistook her for a white at first, so they decide to disguise themselves as a white master and his ‘boy’. Their escape is full of drama and tension, but what will shock young readers is the casual brutality and hateful self-justification of the white slave owners Rosa encounters. It’s a story that makes you doubt humanity, while also celebrating individual courage and resilience. For more books on this theme head over to our sister site, LoveReading4Schools topic list - The Slave Trade
Interest Age Teen Reading Age 8 | Caroline Lawrence found inspiration for Queen of the Silver Arrow in Virgil’s Aeneid, and her story of warrior princess Camilla is as exciting as any fantasy adventure. Acca lives in Laurentum, a small town on the Tiber, in the days before the founding of Rome. She’s grown up hearing stories of the fierce young woman living wild in the hills, linked from birth to weapons. The arrival of migrants from Troy and the threat of war brings the two girls together. When war starts, Camilla fights like an Amazon – thrilling scenes put us at the heart of the battle and it’s impossible not to be awed and intimidated by her, as her friend Acca is. Tinged with myth as well as a real sense of the classical past this is truly gripping stuff, Katniss Everdeen look to your laurels! Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant and dyslexic readers aged 12+
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